The demonic cake lumbered across the floor at frightening speeds as Cyrus, Archibald, Van and Jetta all scrambled towards the exit. The mummified men moved aside to make way for the gargantuan cake as its segments slide back and forth and bits of candle wax, crumbs the size of large pots and flakes of frosting fell off it. “An enormous monster cake?” Antonio said before he narrowed his eyes and gave a clever smirk. “Is this what you dream about my flabby friend?”

“Do you really have to joke about my weight at a time like this?” Cyrus shot back, breathing as hard as he could. “We could die right about now.”

“You’re right but a little levity in the face of danger is what Corazon is all about!” Antonio said as he ran chest out towards the door. “Besides we could all outrun that plodding pastry anyday.”

He gave the large door a heave and his grin vanished from his face. “They’ve barricaded the door.”

“Great,” Cyrus responded, catching his breath. “We’re done for.”

“No we’re not, princey,” Archibald responded. “Why don’t we work on this stubborn door and have these talented sword wielders guard us while we do it.”

“M-m-me?” Van said stuttering.

“Come on Sir Henry,” Archibald said pumping his remaining arm. “You’re the bravest most rugged knight in all the land. Show us you can do it without that beard!”

“You know how much I hate Everbloods and their magic,” Van mumbled, before she looked determined. “But ok…I’ll do it.”

“No problemo, my sweet Van,” Antonio said winking as Van stood at his side. “Stand tall and proud beside me. When I’m with you, I fear nothing. Well except if you’ll turn aside and reject my love.”

Van looked up at Antonio and blushed brightly as she leveled her sword at the approaching beast. A large crumb fell towards the five and as it did, Van took a running jump and sliced it in half.

“Great,” Archibald shouted, “Now Jetta and Cyrus, pull these doors as hard as you can. We can do this.”

The former Thief Lord and Cyrus wrapped their fingers around the golden handles of the doors and yanked as hard as they could. They heard grunting on the other side of the door and Cyrus caught a glimpse of more mummified men pulling it closed. “How are we going to deal with those guys on the other end?” Cyrus shouted. “They’re keeping it closed.”

“I can’t believe this,” Jetta growled. “These were my men and now they’re obedient mind slaves to Bunting.”

“They’re certainly fair weather fighters,” Archibald said. “But perhaps if we had one more person to pull the door we could get it open.”

As Van and Antonio continued to stab the base of the cake, Antonio lifted his hand, signaling Vanessa. “Go,” he shouted. “You heard them.”

“But what about you?” Van asked panting.

“I feel I need to make amends to you. I was a bad hombre teasing you and playing with your emotions like this.”

Van was silent but her eyes said it all. She smiled softly. “You weren’t that bad to me. I know some men who truly take advantage of a girl and you’re not one of those at all.”

“It’s true,” Antonio responded. “I am a gentleman after all. But still, it is my dream to go down fighting as a hero, a rogue and more importantly a legend. Just keep the word of Antonio Corazon alive and I’ll smile down from the heavens upon you.”

Cyrus could see Van was overcome with emotion. Tears began to seep from her eyes. She started sniveling and nodded, running over to the door.

“Do your worst, you dire dessert,” Antonio said brushing his hair over his shoulder. “I’ll carve my name in you and everyone will know a passionate hero perished inside of your gluttonous gut.”

Van grabbed a hold of Cyrus, and he could feel her trembling. He knew she loved Corazon. Together they pulled as hard as they could and the door swung open, sending two mummified men flying through the doorway. “Quick before more come,” Archibald shouted. They ran through the door and as it closed both Van and Cyrus caught one last glimpse of Antonio brandishing his sword.

“I never expected Corazon to be a hero,” Archibald said. “But he’s truly a man of his word.”

Van hung her head in sadness as Jetta quickly ran to the edge of the rug. “Hurry, help me lift this rug,” she shouted. “There’s something under here.”

Cyrus grabbed the other edge of the carpet and together they pulled it off a trap door. Archibald grinned widely. “Great job, I knew saving little Miss Larson was an asset. We can get out this way.”

“That’s the only reason you saved me?” Jetta asked quietly so Archibald couldn’t hear her.

Lifting open the trap doors and pulling the rug under it so Bunting wouldn’t see it, the four entered a damp stairwell which lead to a pitch black tunnel. Only little glowing lanterns guided them along. Mildew and fungus grew on the damp pavement and the whole tunnel smelled of glowing purple moonlichen.

“I thought this dome was brand new,” Cyrus said scratching head. “This tunnel seems really old.”

“That’s because it’s always been here,” Jetta responded. “It’s all that remains of our old manor. I remember sneaking through here when I was a child because my father wouldn’t normally let me play in town.”

“So this leads into town?” Archibald responded. “Excellent. Now Jetta, can you please tell us what you know about this Bunting fellow. Did you really manage to trick an Everblood?”

“I tricked him,” Jetta started. “But it seems I did exactly what he wanted me to do. He wanted me to use the devil’s gold to control the whole town and use them to mine for more gold.”

“Those Everbloods are crafty creatures,” Archibald said. “I wouldn’t expect less of someone like him. I could tell something was off when we first met him.”

“How so?” Cyrus asked.

“Monsters didn’t creep up on us when he was with us. Even other shadow fiends fear the Everbloods. They are truly the top predators in the underworld.”

“Have you encountered more of them?” Jett asked.

Archibald smiled as he thought for a second. “Only one other one. She was a real piece of work.”

“Tell me about it,” Cyrus said shivering. “It made me realize that older women are scary!”

Archibald laughed before a sly look crept up on his face. “Oh yeah Jetta, interesting choice in arsenal when fighting me and the boy.”

Even in the darkness, Jetta gave a visible blush and she frantically stumbled over her words. “Uh, uh I can explain that. The reason I used a love potion on you was just pure chance. It was the second thing I pulled out. I could have easily used it on Cyrus.”

“Ew you were going to use a love potion on me?!” Cyrus exclaimed. “You really are a creepy criminal aren’t you?”

“NO NO!” Jetta screamed holding her hands up defensively “That’s not what I meant! Plus I was under the influence of the devil’s gold and I…”

“I don’t know why you’re getting so hot and bothered,” Archibald responded calmly “I was just going to say, I’ve never seen anyone tie tricks to throwing knives before.”

Jetta had been holding her breath for Archibald’s words, but quickly released a breath of air when he was finished. “Ha ha,” she said giving a false and theatrical laugh. “Well you know us in Scum County, we fight dirtier than the dirt. Hahahaha.”

Jetta’s loud guffaws slowly quieted down into wimpering and her head sank down like Van’s.

Archibald’s voice quickly rose up over Jetta’s and pointed at the steps to a wooden trap door. “Now where does this lead.”

With his one good hand, he quickly pushed the door up and Cyrus poked his head up. They were behind the bar counter at the run-down tavern they had chased Maddie through. “Hey this is pretty handy,” Archibald exclaimed. “I just hope ole’ Bunting doesn’t find out about it…”

“Excuse me?” A middle aged bar maid shouted and whacked Archibald in the head with her broom.

“Owch!” Archibald exclaimed. “I’d rather face an evil cake instead of this any day!”

“M’lady,” the middle aged bar maid said giving a gap toothed gasp as she quickly lifted Jetta out of the trapdoor.

“Nelly, it’s good to see you,” Jetta responded, giving the old maid a hug.”I’m glad the influence of the devil’s gold hasn’t gotten to you.”

“Is that what’s going on?” Nelly the bar-maid responded. “I’ve got zombie men trying to rob us. Of course, they don’t know that it’s you who pays for everything here.”

“Yes, Nelly, and it’s my fault. I brought the devil’s gold to this town and…”

“We’re going to make this right!” Cyrus yelled holding a fist up. “Don’t worry, you may be weird, thief lady, but fighting Everbloods is what we do. Right Van?”

Van, who had climbed into the bar, just stood with a forlorn looking on her face. She mumbled under her breath and looked away.

“Princey,” Archibald said “I don’t think now’s the right time to talk to her. She just lost her loverboy.”

“Oh,” Cyrus said, crossing his arms.

He was sympathetic to Van but he didn’t feel that sad that Antonio was no longer with them. He cared more about her sadness than his loss. He remained quiet.

Archibald put his arm around Cyrus. “But as long as this barmaid doesn’t kill me, we will stop this menace! Let’s gather some food here, take it back to Antonio’s place and plan how we’re going to stop him. Nelly, can you make us some food? We unfortunately don’t have a chef anymore.”

Vanessa gave an audible sigh and her head sunk down further.

“Whoops, sorry!” Archibald said realizing his mistake. “But yeah, Nelly, can you do it…”

Nelly lunged with a broom causing Archibald to whimper and flinch. “Jetta,” said Nelly with an exasperated look. “I don’t like this troublemaking man. Is he your new boyfriend?”

Jetta’s hard face looked like it could melt away at any second from the sheer embarrassment. “No, no, he’s just an ally of mine and a friend of my father. Nothing more.”

“Good.” Nelly said. “Then I’ll make him a meal.”

“Go easy on the poison,” Archibald said.

***

Later in the evening, the four sat in Antonio’s bedroom eating roast mutton and drinking mead out of large goblets. Cyrus and Archibald hungrily gobbled their food down. Only Vanessa didn’t touch it. She just sat in the corner having a staring contest with the wall. “So,” Archibald said. “I was thinking about what we could do to stop Bunting.”

“It better involve stealth,” Jetta responded. “Considering he has most of the town on his side with the exception of a few purer hearts. Hard to believe it but they exist in this city.”

Archibald smiled and lowered his leg of mutton. “I say, we go down to the mine and get to the motherload of devil’s gold before the mummies get it. My good friend Prince Cyrus is a master of breathing fire and he could melt it down in seconds.”

“I can?” Cyrus asked. “Oh yeah, of course I can.”

“Good,” Jetta said “There’s other mine shafts we can use other than the main one. My father had the most successful mining colony in the Coates Kingdom so of course we have many options.”

“There’s always a difference between how easy it sounds and how easy it truly is,” Archibald said, “But I don’t think they’ll be any serious problems. Hey Vanessa, you gonna eat that leg or will you give it to one of our hungry tummies?”

“Not hungry…” Van muttered.

“Cyrus,” Archibald whispered, “Why don’t you say something to the little chica. She’s taking Antonio’s demise a lot harder than everyone else. We had just met him, but I think she truly had a bond with him.”

Cyrus reluctantly got up from the bed and slowly walked over to Vanessa who sat with her head hung low. He could literally feel the storm clouds hanging over her, but as he made his way over, a mannered knock was heard at the door. Not wanting to talk to Van in fear of getting beaten to a pulp, Cyrus quickly excused himself over to the door. He slowly opened it, not knowing if it was friend or foe, but when he saw who it was, he nearly doubled over. There standing covered in whipped cream from head to toe was Antonio, holding a sword covered in sugary bread. “Antonio…” Cyrus gasped, causing Van to turn around.

“Antonio!!!” She screamed with a look of joyous confusion as she dashed over to him. “How in the world did you survive?!”

“I beat the cake, mi amor,” and he leaned forward and kissed her on the lips.

As she stood there crying and smiling, he continued. “Let’s just say I had it creamed.”